An interesting dream scape and acceptable story make this show worth of a watch.
The show itself has a slightly tired narrative about a female led band, A Band Called Quinn, which is ingested through the fame machine and spurted out the other end, having been used and abused by execs and hangers on. Proceedings are overseen by a demonic white rabbit and there are plenty of interesting, if a little obvious, visual metaphors plus some amusing videos to see things through.
The audience are all given wireless headphones to wear throughout and the live music is streamed straight into them. Remove your headphones out of curiosity and without the required amplification you'll discover a bizarre scene of twanging electric guitar and bass strings. This is an intriguing effect, but when the headphones are on it’s hard to figure out why they're there at all. The sound that comes through is exactly as it would be live, so the headphones definitely aren’t handed out so the technical wizards can melt your mind with crazy effects.
Occasionally, the headphones were used reasonably successfully to seemingly move sound around the space, but for the most part the music emanated from the centre. The sound was obviously a lot clearer than a standard speaker system, but otherwise there doesn’t seem to be a reason for the headphones’ inclusion. Presumably, it’s meant to evoke a voyeuristic sensibility, as the actors and musicians do seem detached from what they're playing and the audience is further detached still. But, ultimately the headphones detract from the experience instead of enhancing it.
There are a number of intriguing elements to this show and the music provided by A Band Called Quinn is decent enough. An interesting dream scape and acceptable story make this show worth of a watch.
